pre op jitters

had an uncomfortable situation in pre op. anyone else experienced this. I was recently transferred to pre op. i am not a young nurse so thought i could handle everything. recently had a high anxiety patient who was treated with kid gloves. spouse was allowed in pre op and even in recovery when he woke up. he was there for inguinal hernia surgery. i went into his room and explained that i had to shave his pubic area. he asked why when the incision was way above that area. they were both very nice people but do not like spouses in the room during pre op. i explained that i would be shaving his pubic are and then taping his penis to the opposite side. he was fine with that. i then asked his wife to step out of the room and he told me no she is staying. I was taken aback and said to him i just want you to be comfortable. he stated he was comfortable with his wife there and then his wife said seems to me the only one uncomfortable here is you. went to my charge nurse and told her i was not comfortable touching a males genitals with his wife there. she went in and told them they would shave him in the or. they just shook their heads but were fine. like i said they were very niv=ce people. is there something wrong with me that i am not comfortable touching male genitals with the spouse present. i am supposed to be a professional and this time made me feel like i cant handle it. any advise would be appreciated

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I had an uncomfortable situation in pre op. anyone else experienced this. I was recently transferred to pre op. i am not a young nurse so thought i could handle everything. recently had a high anxiety patient who was treated with kid gloves. spouse was allowed in pre op and even in recovery when he woke up. he was there for inguinal hernia surgery. i went into his room and explained that i had to shave his pubic area. he asked why when the incision was way above that area. they were both very nice people but do not like spouses in the room during pre op. i explained that i would be shaving his pubic are and then taping his member to the opposite side. he was fine with that. i then asked his wife to step out of the room and he told me no she is staying. I was taken aback and said to him i just want you to be comfortable. he stated he was comfortable with his wife there and then his wife said seems to me the only one uncomfortable here is you. went to my charge nurse and told her i was not comfortable touching a males genitals with his wife there. she went in and told them they would shave him in the or. they just shook their heads but were fine. like i said they were very niv=ce people. is there something wrong with me that i am not comfortable touching male genitals with the spouse present. i am supposed to be a professional and this time made me feel like i cant handle it. any advise would be appreciated

1 hour ago, czap said:

why has no one answered me on my last posting. Shame because of this case I am thinking of leaving nursing. What if he got an erection in front of his wife...how would i handle that. I just need some advise and confidence please

Okay, I will try again. Yes, I repeat, I think memberes are yucky. So get over it!

If the exact same situation happens again....

Before entering the patient's room take a deep breath, square your shoulders, give yourself a stern talking to. You can do this!

Have a cold washcloth close by. If a male patient starts to get an erection put the cold washcloth on his testicles or base or his member. Or you can ignore it!

By the way, it is okay to put a Foley in a member when the patient has an erection, but if the catheter does not go in easily step away from the patient, wait a few minutes and place a cold washcloth so the member is flaccid.

If you're just shaving the groin for inguinal surgery you can cover the member with a small drape and shave one side then the other. Moving the member out of the way while still keeping it covered.

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I thank you for all you your responses. I have decided to leave the hospital world and try going to a private doctor office. Yes this case really affected me> I cannot handle having to touch a males genitals as they get an erection anymore. This one would have happened with his wife there. I do not want to have to touch anyone's genitals anymore so am leaving the hospital arena.

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Just one more thing before I leave here. There is no patient dignity anymore. When the man went into the or he was not what was going to happen. He was in there with 5 women. They took off his gown, he was stark naked and then shaved him, pushes his member to the side and taped it. To me this was not necessary as the incision was made way up from that sight. Inguenial hernia is not done in the genital area and I felt bad for this man. He was un necessarily exposed and touched and taped for no reason. From what I was told he did question this afterwards and no one could give him an answer as to why this was done.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
1 minute ago, czap said:

Just one more thing before I leave here. There is no patient dignity anymore. When the man went into the or he was not what was going to happen. He was in there with 5 women. They took off his gown, he was stark naked and then shaved him, pushes his member to the side and taped it. To me this was not necessary as the incision was made way up from that sight. Inguenial hernia is not done in the genital area and I felt bad for this man. He was un necessarily exposed and touched and taped for no reason. From what I was told he did question this afterwards and no one could give him an answer as to why this was done.

I am not an OR or pre-op nurse. But I can guarantee there is a reason for this, caregivers don't want to just shave and tape a member for no reason.

I still very much recommend you talk to someone professional about this. Even getting away from bedside, this issue is very much about your discomfort and not at all about his discomfort.

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I hope that you follow some of your fellow nurses suggestion that you talk to someone about this. In your original post you stated that you were instructed to shave and tape him to one side. If you had done your part to advocate for the patient you would have found out whether he needed to have that as part of his prep since he had asked whether it was necessary. If you had prepared him there would not have been a necessity for 5 women to have shaved him and he would have been with his support person. Apparently it was your job to do the preparation not the or nurses. By you objecting you added to their duties.

As far as going into private doctor office, there may be times when you will have to be a chaperone or possibly have to touch a patient's genitals in the future unless you are able to find a position that does not include these duties.

I do agree that at times patient dignity is not observed. Have had that happen way too many times in the past few years. If he was stark naked that should never have happened unless they were in the middle of an emergency and having to save his life or necessary for the procedure being performed.

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2 hours ago, czap said:

Just one more thing before I leave here. There is no patient dignity anymore. When the man went into the or he was not what was going to happen. He was in there with 5 women. They took off his gown, he was stark naked and then shaved him, pushes his member to the side and taped it. To me this was not necessary as the incision was made way up from that sight. Inguenial hernia is not done in the genital area and I felt bad for this man. He was un necessarily exposed and touched and taped for no reason. From what I was told he did question this afterwards and no one could give him an answer as to why this was done.

Come on, this has to be a troll. It's school holidays in many areas.

Inguinal hernia's are in the groin for pete's sake.

Next, this poster will be complaining that Dr's offices have naked babies !

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4 hours ago, Fiona59 said:

Come on, this has to be a troll. It's school holidays in many areas.

Inguinal hernia's are in the groin for pete's sake.

Next, this poster will be complaining that Dr's offices have naked babies !

I thought it might be a troll. So often trolls don't respond, but she did. At least it was good for a few chuckles. I've never written memberes so many times!

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I am not a troll. Just someone who can not handle certain situations any more. Like I said this case really bothered me and talking to a shrink is not the answer. Thanks to all of you but think I am just gonna move one altogether

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Specializes in PACU.
On 6/10/2019 at 6:06 PM, czap said:

I had an uncomfortable situation in pre op. anyone else experienced this. I was recently transferred to pre op. i am not a young nurse so thought i could handle everything. recently had a high anxiety patient who was treated with kid gloves. spouse was allowed in pre op and even in recovery when he woke up. he was there for inguinal hernia surgery. i went into his room and explained that i had to shave his pubic area. he asked why when the incision was way above that area. they were both very nice people but do not like spouses in the room during pre op. i explained that i would be shaving his pubic are and then taping his member to the opposite side. he was fine with that. i then asked his wife to step out of the room and he told me no she is staying. I was taken aback and said to him i just want you to be comfortable. he stated he was comfortable with his wife there and then his wife said seems to me the only one uncomfortable here is you. went to my charge nurse and told her i was not comfortable touching a males genitals with his wife there. she went in and told them they would shave him in the or. they just shook their heads but were fine. like i said they were very niv=ce people. is there something wrong with me that i am not comfortable touching male genitals with the spouse present. i am supposed to be a professional and this time made me feel like i cant handle it. any advise would be appreciated

Put yourself in the patient position. How would you feel if a male nurse shaved your private area? You should of got him a male nurse to do it.

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Specializes in ED, med-surg, peri op.

I’ve never heard of pt support person Not being with them pre op. Usually it’s encourage. In OR or PACU generally just for kids or people with disabilities.

as a experience nurse I’m surprise you have such a problem with genitals!! It’s something we deal with often, cleaning, tolieting, shaving, catheters ect.

normally if I’m doing something personal I give the pt/support person the option. It’s not up to me. I’m just doing my job, as long as they don’t cause problems, like fainting when seeing a Nasty wound.

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